Having a drink before boarding a plane could soon become a thing of the past.

Passengers waiting to board flights could potentially be banned from enjoying an early morning pint as part of a new crack-down.

The Home Office is set to ‘reassess’ a loophole that lets airports bypass laws which usually prohibit 24-hour drinking.

It is in a bid to to cut down on lager lout holidaymakers.

A review by the House of Lords looked at ending 24-hour drinking in airports, and now the Home Office is issuing a ‘call for evidence’ to ‘assess the impact of implementing the Licensing Act on airside premises on reducing alcohol related disorder’

If the review finds the necessary evidence, it could mark the end of an early morning pre-holiday drink as councils would have the power to license and inspect bars, pubs and restaurants inside airports - as well as limiting the hours alcohol is served, reports the Echo .

Figures show that between March 2014 and March 2016, there were 442 people nationwide held on suspicion of being drunk at UK airports, according to data from police forces who responded to a freedom of information request.

A Home Office spokesman said: “Hundreds of millions of passengers travel through the UK’s airports and they should be able to enjoy their holidays without having their flight disrupted by a small minority of people.

“There are already tough penalties in place for drunkenness on an aircraft – you can be imprisoned for up to two years or given an unlimited fine. Pilots also have the power to issue the removal passengers from the plane if they are drunk and the safety of the aircraft or its passengers is threatened.”

While some passengers may not be too happy at the news, it has been welcomed by some in the airline industry.

Phil Ward, managing director of Jet2.com, described amending the Licensing Act as a ‘critical step’ to protect crew and passengers from alcohol-related disruptive behaviour.

He added: “As a family-friendly airline, flying millions of people on holiday, we will not tolerate a small minority of disruptive passengers spoiling the flight for the rest of those on board, so we believe this step would have a very positive impact.

“We are encouraged that the Home Office has committed to issuing a call for evidence on this, and we look forward to working with them and the rest of industry to find a solution to this growing problem.”

“Thankfully, instances of anti-social behaviour are rare and involve only a small number of our 27.7 million passengers and affect a tiny proportion of the 500-plus flights we handle each day.

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“However, examples from the past year show clearly that the whole of our industry will not accept anti-social behaviour at any stage of a journey and that we will collectively take action to ensure the actions of a minority do not impact the experience of the majority.

“Passengers who behave in a disruptive manner fail to behave face arrest or being prevented from flying.”